The mouse has long been the pointing device of choice for controlling a graphical user interface on a computing device. However, as displays become cheaper to manufacture, users are more apt to choose higher resolution displays. In fact, due to the low cost of displays, many users have begun to link two or more displays together to provide a larger total display area with a greater number of pixels. Unfortunately, users have also discovered that, as the total displayable area becomes larger, it becomes more difficult to control the on-screen cursor of a graphical user interface, especially with a conventional mouse.
Conventional mice provide a mapping between hand movement and cursor movement in a relative manner, often with respect to the surface across which the mouse moves. For example, when interacting with a large display having a high resolution, the conventional mouse would need to travel large distances to navigate from one end of the display to the other. Other pointing devices, such as electronic pens, have been used to provide absolute mapping between the position of the pointing device and the position of the cursor. However, because these devices typically interact directly with the display or some other writing surface, such devices become difficult to use as displays and writing surfaces increase in size.
There is therefore becoming a need to improve upon how a user may control the cursor, as well as other displayed controls, in a computing system.